Review: American Dad “Klaus and Rogu in ‘Thank God for Loose Rocks’: An American Dad! Adventure”

Overview:

The Smith family decides to kick back with some much-needed rustic themed relaxation. The Smiths head off to a dude ranch to scratch this itch and nobody from the family is more excited than Klaus. However, what’s supposed to be a peaceful vacation turns into a survival of the fittest when Rogu’s reception at the ranch rubs Klaus the wrong way. Klaus is determined to not have Rogu replace him, whether it’s at the dude ranch, or within the family, yet his actions to settle this score leave him reliant on Rogu’s help.

Also, Stan loves a donkey.

 

Our Take:

There’s a running trope in television known as “Cousin Oliver Syndrome,” where a new character awkwardly gets shoehorned into the cast in a transparent attempt to spice things up. Cousin Oliver didn’t help reinvigorate The Brady Bunch and the truth of the matter is that no “Cousin Olivers” ever actually improves the equation. American Dad doesn’t succumb to this pitfall and the series has actually gradually added new members to the Smith family, like Jeff. If American Dad were to ever have a Cousin Oliver, it would be Rogu, Roger’s tumor-turned-child, yet the series has gracefully handled this new addition and understood that he can often be strongest in small doses or a supporting role. “Klaus and Rogu in ‘Thank God for Loose Rocks’: An American Dad! Adventure” isn’t the first episode to put heavy focus on Rogu, with “The Hand That Rocks the Rogu” being the previous benchmark. However, it’s definitely the biggest dose of Rogu to date and it cleverly approaches the new character from a unique angle that does try to turn him into the Cousin Oliver that he’s not.

On its surface level, there’s nothing groundbreaking about the structure of this narrative wherein Klaus feels threatened by Rogu’s growing popularity within the family. Rogu has often been shown to be just as chaotic as Roger, but with even less of a moral compass that’s been established and he can fall back on a case of, “I’m the Baby, Gotta Love Me.” What makes this episode work as well as it does is that Rogu is the innocent one through this adventure and it’s Klaus that actually turns into the Roger of this scenario. Klaus’ insecurities often remain as subtext, but his paranoia here doesn’t feel unwarranted. It’s the type of episode where it feels like the entire universe is on Rogu’s side and couldn’t care less about Klaus’ strained antics. So while the temptation in the past has been to deliver Rogu stories where Roger or Steve are his foils, “Thank God For Loose Rocks” taps into the potential of a Rogu and Klaus pairing.

The animosity between these two results in a Homeward Bound-esque journey where Rogu and Klaus must survive the elements, as well as each other. There’s no real sense of danger through any of this, or is there any actual risk of either of these two really getting hurt, but there’s still believable development that happens between the two, even if it begins in an artificial place.

“Klaus and Rogu in ‘Thank God for Loose Rocks’: An American Dad! Adventure” is surprisingly focused and the digressions with the rest of the Smith family don’t amount to much. Stan’s misunderstood love for the local donkey is actually deeply depressing when viewed from a certain angle. This poor donkey seems to have no concept of who Stan is, while he’s willing to leave his family behind as if this is some emotionally charged Brokeback Mountain-level bond. This is actually an occasion where more of a subplot back at the Smith household would have been beneficial or the decision to cut the cast in half and divide up the dude ranch material would work as a welcome reprieve from this folksy escapade. None of it is unpleasant, but it struggles to compete with Rogu and Klaus’ story.

It’s encouraging to see American Dad experiment more with its characters and to see the journey that Rogu’s been on after only a few seasons. This feels like vintage American Dad, but it’s an installment where the character dynamics are what work the best rather than specific jokes or dialogue. It’s a strong example of what can be accomplished with Rogu and why he’s more than just a weirder Roger, but it’s not the best that this season has had to offer.